Better Latte Than Never
by fandomdevoted
Summary: Viktor is just the average coffee shop barista minding his own business and - Oh. My. Goodness. Who is HE!


**(UPDATE 15/02/17 PART 2 IS NOW UP)**

 **A gift for junjou-impala on Tumblr.**

 **So this was part of the Yuri! On Ice Secret Valentines 2017 on Tumblr. I'd never done an exchange before so I decided to give it a go this year. It was fun but damn it was stressful when I just couldn't think of anything to write. But in the end, I managed to hammer this out. Hopefully people like it :)**

 **And final shoutout to the organiser of the event - who remains anonymous to us all - who dealt with so much crap and still managed to organise everyone so well. They are the real hero of this whole thing.**

* * *

Viktor stared at the clock intently – as if his glare could force time to move faster. The hands of the timepiece seemed to laugh and mock him as they crept slowly onwards. To a bystander, Viktor may have seemed merely like a tired coffee shop barista who longed for the end of his shift. But it wasn't the end of his shift that he yearned for, no. He wasn't waiting for the end of his shift, but instead for the time when _he_ would arrive.

Every Monday and Thursday at 7 o'clock, the most beautiful man Viktor had ever set eyes on would walk through the door of Viktor's place of work.

Over the past few weeks, Viktor had only managed to wheedle out a name from the man - _Yuuri_.

(Viktor would promise that this was all for professional purposes of course, he needed a name to make sure he didn't mess up the _many_ orders that he was bound to get this early in the morning…)

Every time _Yuuri_ came in, Viktor found his eyes inexplicably drawn to the bespectacled man. There wasn't a single thing about him that wasn't breath-taking and eye catching. It was impossible not to stare – Viktor had stop trying long ago. He could feel himself grow hot every time he watched Yuuri walk through the door and flush red from entering the warm shop from the cold outside.

He could have sworn that the powers of the universe were laughing at him in his predicament of complete infatuation. It seemed that they particularly enjoyed watching him squirm – memories of the time Yuuri had worn tight dancer's leggings sprung to mind. (Those damn leggings had pretty near caused Viktor's premature death by heart-attack – they really left _nothing_ to the imagination.)

That was pretty much the extent of what Viktor knew about Yuuri: his name, that he was most likely a dancer and that he was gorgeous.

Under most normal circumstances, Viktor would have considered himself rather successful in the flirting department. However, nothing he said to Yuuri seemed to do anything in his favour. Time and time again, he would flirt – almost shamelessly – with Yuuri, but to no avail. He couldn't tell if Yuuri was _really_ oblivious or just _really_ not interested. Viktor wasn't quite sure which reality he'd prefer.

Speaking of the devil, just as Viktor was beginning to worry that Yuuri wouldn't be showing up, said man sluggishly trudged through the door of the shop. Viktor felt his heart speed up at the sight of Yuuri's dark and messy bed head. Under different circumstances, he would have looked utterly _debauched_ but as it was, Viktor forced himself to believe that his current state was a result of having just woken up – and not other activities that Viktor should definitely not be thinking about at this very moment.

"Morning Yuuri!"

Yuuri muttered something resembling a "morning" in response. Not much of a morning person, was he?

"How are you today?" He tried, he really did, to not seem so desperately enthusiastic but even to his own ears, he sounded pathetic.

"Fine thanks."

"Well you're not wrong there." He threw in a wink for good measure.

A bright blush flooded Yuuri's face as Viktor's words registered in his head.

Viktor chuckled lightly as he continued, "I suppose you're here for your usual then?"

"Y-y-yes please."

And with that, Viktor promptly turned round to the coffee machine to make Yuuri's usual morning latte and thus saving Yuuri from further embarrassment.

Once the drink was made and paid for, Yuuri nodded his head in thanks before heading over to sit in his usual spot.

On most mornings, unless the seat was already taken, Yuuri sat himself down in the corner across the room, by the window. It's just pure coincidence that Yuuri's spot was right in Viktor's eye line when he stood at the till and it wasn't uncommon for Viktor to get lost in his thoughts as he stared openly at Yuuri who didn't seem to notice. Normally, Yuuri listened to music through his headphones whilst staring out of the window to the outside world. Occasionally, he was seen on his phone and presumably texting somebody. And no, Viktor was not jealous of whoever the recipient of Yuuri's messages was and he was certainly not jealous that somebody, who wasn't Viktor, had Yuuri's phone number.

* * *

It's a sort of routine that they've built up over the weeks and months that Yuuri visits the small coffee shop where Viktor works.

Yuuri comes in at his regular time and orders his regular latte while Viktor stares and flirts openly to no avail. Neither of them ever breaks the routine they've set up.

Until one day, Yuuri does.

It's a Saturday. In the afternoon. Business is slow as the lunch period comes to a close. Viktor is behind the counter wiping down the surfaces when the bell above the door dings and he looks up. He almost drops the damp cloth he was using to wipe down the coffee machine.

"Yuuri?"

"Oh Viktor! Hi…"

"I didn't know you came here on Saturdays." He wouldn't have even known that Yuuri turned up on this day if it weren't for the fact that Viktor himself was only here on a Saturday to cover for Mila who'd suddenly come down with the flu.

"Erm, well, usually I don't, I'm just here meeting up with a friend…"

It wasn't like Viktor though that Yuuri didn't have friends. But he didn't expect to feel the pang of jealousy at the fact that it wasn't him that was spending time with Yuuri.

In an attempt to sound something close to nonchalant, wearing his friendliest smile, he opened his mouth to reply. But before he could say anything, a rather energetic looking young man bounded towards them.

"YUURI!" The other man grinned as he launched himself at Yuuri, engulfing him in a tight hug.

"Phichit! You saw me the other day, why are you acting like we haven't met in years?!"

Viktor looks between Yuuri and the newcomer, Phichit, and he feels himself deflating at what he sees. He thinks it's obvious that the other two men are close, just by the way they interact, he can tell. Of course it had been stupid to assume that such beautiful person such as Yuuri would be single and available. All the best people are never available.

"Because Yuuri, I'm always happy to see you! Even if I see you all the time!"

Yuuri's only reply is to rolls his eyes at his companion.

It's then that Phichit notices Viktor's presence. And he seems to notice that Viktor's eyes not-so-subtly flick towards Yuuri every few seconds. He smirks as Viktor feels his face heating up slightly at being caught so blatantly infatuated with someone who's taken already.

"Hi there! I'm Phichit! Yuuri's _best friend_." The strong emphasis on the last words of his sentence is loud and clear to Viktor. Best friend? Perhaps he had assumed wrong about their relationship.

"Good afternoon to you both." At the new revelation, he turns his smile extra bright. Perhaps he still has a chance with Yuuri after all.

"So what can I get for you today?"

Phichit looks up at the menu above Viktor's head in contemplation. He hums in thought before turning to Yuuri suddenly.

"Yuuuuuri…" Phichit whines, "What should I get? What do you think looks good?"

Caught slightly off-guard at being asked a sudden question, Yuuri splutters for a second. Which are all Phichit needs before he continues talking.

"Never mind, I know what _you_ think looks good around here." His tone is mischievous and full of laughter. And of course, the quick glance and wink at Viktor is not missed.

Yuuri blushes furiously at his friend's insinuation. Whereas Viktor begins to thinks that perhaps his usual advances towards Yuuri are not all that unwelcome. Hope starts to flourish in his chest at the thought.

"You know what; I'll just have a Chai Tea Latte please."

Viktor promptly puts through his order along with Yuuri's regular and then turns to get onto making the drinks.

It's in this moment that Viktor is reminded of why he loves that he works in a small independent shop as opposed to a large chain. On most days, even in the busiest hours, the whole shop rarely gets very loud. Very little noise is made by the few patrons the shop has and for that, Viktor is grateful. Especially now.

With only a few other customers quietly sipping their coffees, Viktor is more than capable of hearing the conversation between Phichit and Yuuri. Moreover, it's almost as if it's intentional with the way that Phichit doesn't sound like he's even trying to keep quiet.

"Woah, I see what you mean now Yuuri! The barista here is _really_ attractive!"

Viktor almost misses the tall glasses they serve lattes in and pours hot milk over his own hand.

"Phichit!"

"I mean, at first I thought you were just exaggerating but now I can see why you couldn't shut up about hi-"The rest of his speech was muffled but Viktor had already heard enough.

It takes him a few seconds to gather his own thoughts and rein in his confidence. He'd never had trouble flirting and asking people out before but something about Yuuri just made him nervous and made his heart thump in his chest. He really doesn't want to mess this up. But judging by how embarrassed Yuuri looks when Viktor turns around with their drinks, he guesses that perhaps Yuuri wouldn't be too averse to going out on a date with Viktor.

Yuuri lets go of his hold on Phichit who looks all too satisfied with himself.

"So here are your drinks." Filled with renewed confidence, Viktor's voice takes on a deeper, sultrier tone as he speaks. And naturally, he doesn't forget to throw in his signature wink at the other man.

He didn't think it was possible for a person to blush more than Yuuri was in that moment.

"Th-th-th-thank you."

And with that, Yuuri grabs his drink and practically runs away to sit in his usual spot by the window. Viktor smiles a little at how adorable Yuuri could be.

A soft snort from Phichit brings Viktor's attention back from Yuuri.

"If you're going to do something, I'd get a move on if I were you." And then he too leaves.

But his words linger in Viktor's mind. Phichit was right. He really should get a move on. Well, now that he knew he might not be completely rejected, his only option was to come up with an amazing plan to ask Yuuri out or get his number or anything.

Unfortunately, before he could think of any brilliant plans, a sizeable group of people walked in to order and by the time all of them had been served and taken care of, Yuuri and Phichit had left.

Monday then. That's when he'd do it.

* * *

It was the longest weekend of Viktor's life. He kept going over in his head how he'd ask Yuuri to go out with him. Ideas were contemplated and discarded like yesterday's rubbish. None of them seemed good enough.

In the end, he had no grand plan. He'd just ask him out when Yuuri came in on Monday for his usual coffee and hope for the best. Monday had never come slower.

When Monday finally came, Viktor was shaking behind the counter as it came closer to the time when Yuuri usually visited the shop.

When he saw the tuft of black hair come through the door, Viktor jolted upright and he tried to keep it together. He really did.

"Morning Yuuri!"

"M-M-Morning." It seemed he was still feeling embarrassment from the exchange Viktor overheard on Saturday.

"Usual order?"

Yuuri's only response was a short and shy nod. Damn, he really was too cute for Viktor's poor heart.

He'd decided that he would ask him out only after he made him the drink. Then, if he was rejected, at least Yuuri could just walk away and he wouldn't be stuck awkwardly standing around waiting for his drink.

As he was finishing up the drink, he could feel his heart pounding in his chest. He wouldn't have been surprised if Yuuri could hear the thumping from where he stood behind the counter. Desperately he tried to calm himself down. He could do this. It would be fine. He was Viktor Nikiforov. If he got rejected, he would be fine.

Slowly, he turned back around to face Yuuri and set the tall glass down in front of him.

"So, anything else I can get for you today?" That wasn't what he meant to say. But he was too damn nervous that the right words just escaped him. At this rate he was never going to get anywh –

"Yeah. Your phone number."

Wait.

His own thoughts were sharply interrupted by Yuuri's words.

Did he just?

Viktor just _stares_. He blinks. Then blinks again. He's in total shock. All this time, he'd been panicking about what to say and then _Yuuri_ comes out and proves once again why Viktor is totally gone on this man.

Yuuri mistakes the silence for rejection. He slumps in dejection as he stares down at the floor – defiantly not meeting Viktor's eyes.

"Never mind. It's okay. I get it. I just thought that...I thought you... Never mind. I'll just go..." Viktor thinks he hears a wobble and a hitch in Yuuri's voice and that will _not_ do.

"NO!" Viktor flinches at the loudness of his own voice but he couldn't help it. He couldn't just let Yuuri _leave_. Not now.

Yuuri jumps at the sudden volume.

"It's okay. I was stupid to assume..." Viktor almost slaps himself as he realises how he must have sounded like he was rejecting the other man.

"No no no! That's not what I meant. I just didn't want you to leave..."

"Oh."

"Hang on a sec; I'll give you my number." He scrawls his phone number on a napkin he pulls out of the dispenser beside the till. He double checks and triple checks to make sure that his writing is legible and unambiguous. He wasn't going to let Yuuri slip away from him now.

"Here, maybe you could contact me and we could go out sometime?" Viktor doesn't even bother to hide his own hopeful tone. He doesn't even care about keeping up appearances. Nothing else matters to him at this point.

"I'd really like that." Yuuri replies in a quiet voice as Viktor spies a small smile worming its way onto his face.

Yuuri finally looks up from his shoes and finally looks at Viktor. And Viktor can't help but look right back – his own smile brightening up his face. They just stand staring at each other whilst Yuuri's coffee gets cold. He has no idea how long they're there for, or how long they'd continue for but just then, another customer walks in and the trance is broken.

With another small smile, Yuuri grabs his drink.

"I'll just let you get back to work… I'll talk to you later." He waves the napkin with Viktor's number scrawled on it as he turns and leaves for his usual spot.

It's a shame that after that one customer walks in, a steady stream of people start to make their way into the shop for their morning coffees. Thus ruining Viktor's plans of ditching the counter and going to spend time with Yuuri.

At least before Yuuri leaves; he doesn't go without giving one last smile to Viktor who returns it with fervour.

Viktor doesn't think he's ever had a better shift at work when it finally ends. It only gets better when he gathers his things and notices that he already has a text from a new number already waiting for him on his phone.

* * *

 **I hope you guys enjoyed my writing! :3 I tried but I had a bit of a block and I didn't want to drop out of the event and put more work on the organiser so I just went with it. But maybe it didn't turn out to bad?**

 **Visit my Tumblr: fandomdevoted for fandom related posts and feel free to drop me a message on that if you so wish :D Tbh, since I saw YOI, I'm mostly just a YOI blog now... It was multi-fandom but YOI wrecked my life.**

 **Reviews and favourites are much appreciated! :)**


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